Violent Offenders: Appraising And Managing Risk

Must we continue to endure the return of violent offenders to the community, a situation that seems to result in more death and destruction? Arguing from the notion that community risk management can be improved by combining what has already known about the prediction of violence, the study of decision making and clinical judgment, and the literature on treatment outcomes and program evaluation, the authors report on a sustained 35-year program of research in Canada. They give an historical perspective, previous research on prediction, methods and measurement, clinical approaches, reviews of a new generation of follow-up studies on mentally disordered offenders, fire setters and sex offenders, reviews of violence prediction instruments (the actuarial approach and its criticism) and describe altering the risk of violence through treatment and management. They include information about the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide and the Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide and other instruments for assessing and managing violent offenders in and out of your neighborhood. Annotation c2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)